History Lesson. David Freeman wasn’t a name that I was familiar with before yesterday but the name means a lot to those that have been in solar longer than me and they shared some of those thoughts with me and I thought you should hear them as well. David passed away this week at the age of 94. He led TVA, LADWP and SMUD during his career in power. The solar overlap includes the original SMUD PV Pioneer program which started the path to the million roof initiative that California celebrated late last year. Some have told me that much of California’s solar success wouldn’t have been able to get to where it is today without his leadership.
Job Growth Halted. The pandemic is having its impacts on jobs around the Country including clean tech. According to the latest report by ACORE, 600,000 jobs have been lost in the industry. Not only is it impacting those sidelined from the construction jobs but it is also impacting really good employees on a more than temporary basis. We need to find the bold policy initiatives that will catapult the market back into growth mode and get people back to work as soon as possible.
AOC Picks Climate. There was question about if and how AOC would get involved in the Joe Biden campaign and we got the answer. She is co-chairing the climate change campaign committee with John Kerry. It highlights the importance that the issue has in the campaign especially for the ‘young people’ that AOC and Sanders were targeting during the campaign. It also means that Biden is willing to be pushed far on energy/climate change issues.
The Pod On Spotify. For those that asked, and thank you for doing it, SolarWakeup Live! The podcast is now available on Spotify. Do your thing and share it with friends and colleagues. We had an informative and forward looking interview with Andy Klump from CEA this week and next week will have my interview with Rob Newman from Nearmap to talk about how you never have to get on a roof to measure again.
- Los Angeles Times: S. David Freeman, public power chief and energy advisor, dies at 94
- Reuters: Clean energy has shed nearly 600,000 U.S. jobs due to pandemic – report
- CNN: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to co-chair Biden-Sanders campaign climate task force
- PV-Magazine: Direct cash payments for solar projects floated as a legislative solution
- Axios: Democratic campaign vets unveil 2020 climate push
- Greentech Media: Strata Blazes Ahead With California Gas Peaker Replacement Battery, Taps Tesla
- Solar Power World: P90 and variability: A deep dive
- Utility Dive: Replace NYC peakers with renewables+storage? Plant owners say they’re working on it
Opinion
- Grist: Solar panels are more efficient than you’ve heard. This material could make them even better.
Best, Yann